Maxim magazine in the US has apologised for publishing a bad review of the Black Crowes' new album even though the writer had not heard the full CD.

Its March issue gave Warpaint 2.5 stars out of five, but the band insisted that advance copies of the album had actually not been available.

They claimed the magazine would have been able to hear only one track.

Maxim said in a statement that its policy of only giving ratings to albums heard in full "was not followed".

Editorial policy

Following Maxim's review, the group said on their website: "Incredulously, the magazine gave the album a two-and-a-half star rating, although neither the writer nor the editor could have heard more than one song - the single Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution."

The magazine's actions were "a disgrace to the arts, journalism, critics, the publication itself and the public", according to the Black Crowes' manager, Pete Angelus.

Maxim editorial director James Kaminsky said in a statement: "It is Maxim's editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety.

"Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologise to our readers."

A spokeswoman for the magazine refused to say if the journalist responsible would face disciplinary action.

Warpaint, the Black Crowes' first album for seven years, is due to be released in the UK on 3 March and the US on 4 March.